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Ep. 190 - From Accountant to Wedding Planner: The Secret to Getting Married and Staying Married with Erika Bowers
57 Plays16 days ago
In this episode:
Today’s guest went from crunching numbers to crafting dream weddings—and she believes both skills are crucial for a thriving marriage. Meet Erika Bowers, founder of Erika’s Elegance Weddings & Event Planning. With a background in corporate accounting and over 20 years of event planning experience, Erika shares how knowing your numbers can help you get married and stay married.
We talk about:
✨ Why budgeting is a form of self-care (and relationship care)
✨ How Erika pivoted from a career in corporate finance to full-time wedding planning
✨ The overlooked connection between financial transparency and long-term marital happiness
✨ Practical tips for couples navigating money conversations while planning their wedding
✨ Her journey from St. Louis to Southern California and how her Southern charm influences her client experience
Erika’s story is full of heart, purpose, and passion. She brings the perfect mix of spreadsheets and sparkle to her work—and she’s on a mission to help couples create events (and marriages) that reflect their values.
Meet Erika:
Erika Bowers is a Certified Professional Bridal Consultant with a BS in Accountancy and an MBA. She’s the founder of Erika’s Elegance Weddings & Event Planning, a boutique planning company based in Southern California and St. Louis. She currently serves as Co-Director of the Association of Bridal Consultants Greater LA Chapter and is deeply committed to empowering couples through education, elegance, and intentional celebration.
Connect with Erika:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erikaselegance
https://www.erikaselegance.com/
Resources Mentioned:
[Link to Erika’s planning services or any freebies]
[Your own link to passive income offers if you'd like to plug something here]
If you loved this episode, share it with a bride-to-be or tag us on Instagram @getaheckyespodcast and let us know your biggest takeaway!
Say hi to me https://instagram.com/carissawoo
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Transcript
Introduction to Carissa's AI Challenge
00:00:00
Speaker
Happy Woo Wednesdays everyone! i am feeling so great! a lot of people have joined my 24-hour AI challenge. A lot of you wedding pros and I've helped you guys get your digital product up and running and selling on autopilot with 5 to 7 second reels.
00:00:20
Speaker
Join the 24-hour challenge and get your digital product up and running. Stop giving all your advice for free. The link is in the show notes.
Featuring Erica Bowers: Financial Expert in Weddings
00:00:30
Speaker
Today I have my dear friend Erica Bowers from Erica's Elegance.
00:00:36
Speaker
We serve on the WIPA board for the past two years and we have become very very close. She helps the WIPA board with their finances, with their numbers, with projecting their finances and everyone says that they just love her and truly need her.
00:00:53
Speaker
So today we are going to talk all things money, numbers, and finances. This is for couples, how to get married and stay married by knowing your numbers, and for wedding pros, how to stay in business by knowing your numbers.
00:01:07
Speaker
You are going to love this episode. It is so good. Enjoy this episode.
Carissa's Journey in the Wedding Industry
00:01:16
Speaker
Welcome to Get a Heck Yes with Carissa Wu. I'm your host Carissa and I've been a Los Angeles wedding photographer for over a decade. I've traveled the world, built my team, and seen it all.
00:01:27
Speaker
I now coach wedding photographers hit 10K a month and build a thriving business. In this podcast, we are going to deep dive into how top wedding creatives get that heck yes from their dream clients. We are not holding back on the struggles of the business and how to push through the noise. Some healthy hustle, mindset shifts, up-leveling your money story,
00:01:45
Speaker
Time hacks because I'm a mom of two, a little bit of woo-woo, and most importantly, self-love and confidence are just a few of the many things we will talk about. I want to give you a genuine thank you for following along my journey.
00:01:57
Speaker
i hope to inspire you every Woo Wednesday so that you say heck yes to listening to this podcast. See you guys soon.
Meet Erica Bowers: A Blend of Creativity and Finance
00:02:08
Speaker
Hey everyone, welcome back to Get a Heck Yes. I have my dear friend today, Erica Bowers. She is from Erica's Elegance. She is a wedding and event planner, designer, infusing events and creativity and style based worldwide, but you're in l LA and we are on the whip-a-board together. Welcome Erica. What's up girl? Hey, Miss Carissa. Thanks for having me.
00:02:32
Speaker
You're so welcome. I can't believe it's taken us this long to have you on. But yeah we served up on the Whippleboard for almost going on two years. So it's been great getting to know you. So I'm just so ah happy to have you.
00:02:46
Speaker
Thank you. Same here. You're such a sweetheart. so I'm glad to be here. Yay. Well, tell the Heck Yes audience who you are in a nutshell. Well, I am Erica Bowers.
00:02:58
Speaker
I am a full service wedding event planner. And my most cherished thing is being a wife and a TTS, they call me to my wonderful nieces and nephews.
00:03:10
Speaker
Oh, you said TT? Yes, that's what they call me. I thought it was like an acronym for something.
00:03:17
Speaker
TTFI.
00:03:22
Speaker
Oh, I love it. And you just went to Magic Mountain with your niece for her birthday? Yeah. Yes, she turned 13 and i actually flew out to Atlanta to spend the day with her. So very excited. I have been riding rides all day. So oh I don't think I could do that anymore.
00:03:40
Speaker
didn't think so either, but I mentally prepared myself. And it was. It actually wasn't bad, so. but Oh, good, good. i would like being in and and a neck brace the day after.
00:03:51
Speaker
Well, ibuprofen is my friend today. That's so funny. ah Well, tell everyone like where you grew up and where you're from and any like important stories that shape the person you are today.
Erica's Path from Pre-Med to Accounting
00:04:04
Speaker
Well, I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, but some people here are a little Southern twang, and so that's because my mother was from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and I spent a lot of time down there. So kind got a dialect of both.
00:04:18
Speaker
um I came from parents who were both in the workforce. My dad was blue collar. My mother was a teacher. But with that, they both had such a creative side. Like my dad could fix anything.
00:04:33
Speaker
And my mother was big on arts and crafts. So I feel like I just kind of got blended well with both of them. And they taught me some great values. You know, your word is your bond. And I continue to live by it So, well, I love that. What did your dad do?
00:04:50
Speaker
So he worked for a steel mill. He worked in a purchasing department. So I know both the blue collar side and the white collar side very well. Oh, I love that. Red, white, and blue.
00:05:02
Speaker
yeah Absolutely. Tell us like what you're like um as a kid. like Your mom did arts and crafts, but like what were you into? ah So I really was an academic growing up. i My friends and my family called me a little bookworm. Yeah.
00:05:21
Speaker
And I loved math. I loved reading. And I honestly didn't really know I had a creative side because I approached things like I got to get a job done and let's get it done.
00:05:36
Speaker
But I know how to sew. So I sewed as a kid. i was a dancer and I played the piano. Wow. Look at you. What were you like in high school and then take it to college after that?
00:05:50
Speaker
So high school, again, is just in my books, I actually was a cheerleader though. So I had both of these sides yeah and I was really working to prepare to go to college to do pre-med. And so um Again, taking a lot of heavy like chemistry courses, math courses, which I absolutely love.
00:06:10
Speaker
So and that prepared me for college, which actually took a turn from being a doctor. so Wow. OK, tell me about that turn and like what like provoked that turn in your life.
00:06:23
Speaker
Well, what provoked the term was biology, where you had to dissect a frog. And then I later learned you had to dissect a cadaver. And I was like, oh, no way. This is not going to happen. Oh, man. Yeah, I did the frog, but and not the cadaver. Oh, my God. I couldn't even do the frog. I thought my mother was going strangle me because I refused to in biology class. I just it creeps me out and I didn't have to dissect it. I can't remember what I did to get around it, but I was like, I got to change my career choice. Oh my God. Okay. Then what career did you choose and what was it like then?
00:07:00
Speaker
So I went into accounting and what was so weird, Carissa, is I literally took no accounting courses in high school. So I went to college kind of blind and I took a test to say, this is the career choice you should go into. So not a common story.
00:07:20
Speaker
One of those like a personality test thing. Yes, absolutely. And I was like, okay. So it said actuary or an accountant. And so I researched both.
00:07:32
Speaker
And the actuary, it said you spent like 90% of your time by yourself. I was like, yeah, no, can't do that. And so I chose accounting. Wow. Interesting. And we're talking today about budgeting, so I guess it all worked out for you. But tell us like maybe the first couple of jobs you had out of college and then you could kind of take it into becoming a wedding planner.
From Teaching to Wedding Planning: Erica's Career Shift
00:07:53
Speaker
And it's so ironic. So as soon as I graduated from college, we did have a career school, but...
00:08:01
Speaker
They placed you like in New York and things like, and I didn't want to leave. So I got out of college and didn't have a job. And so I was like, okay, yeah, you got to find something. So I actually was a substitute teacher for my first year out of school.
00:08:18
Speaker
Oh, cool. Same as your mom. Yes, absolutely. Had no desire to teach, but I needed to teach because I needed to have income. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. What college did you go to?
00:08:30
Speaker
I went to Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. So I knew hands down that's where I wanted to go. Yeah. Okay. So what was your your year of substitute teaching like?
00:08:41
Speaker
Oh my gosh. So it was like crazy wild because I'm telling myself you do not want to teach, but I loved it because I got to move around and I spent A lot of time with the little bitty kids, like second or third grade, which is very interesting.
00:08:59
Speaker
And then the high school kids, which was very, it so two totally different dynamics. So it was very fun. And I kind of sparked something that I later use now in my life, so.
00:09:13
Speaker
I love that. And then now you're getting into digital products. So and all it's all making sense. um Tell everyone, this is the question that I'm kind of excited to listen to, but how did you get into a wedding planner and what was like your early years? Like, so it's very interesting. Again, i take everything very strategically. I have to solve a problem. So when I graduated from college, one of my really dear friends, her boyfriend proposed to her and she was like, I need you to do my wedding.
00:09:40
Speaker
I'm like, wedding? Like I'm an accountant, you know? And now I look back, she probably asked me because I was cheap. I was free, you know? She's like, score. why she but Right, right. So I was like, okay.
00:09:59
Speaker
And I did it. I researched. I had never planned a wedding before or even a party for that. And so, but I researched it.
00:10:10
Speaker
I talked to some professionals and I found out I actually like doing it. And I was able to make some of the items that she wants. She said, I want that. And I figured out how to make it. And so that was my first wedding planning job.
00:10:26
Speaker
Wow. Okay. Okay. Then how did you execute the wedding? How did it go? How did it turn out? And then what were like the next steps after that to like making your own business?
00:10:37
Speaker
So it really went well, Carissa. I was so shocked. Like the decorations were nice. And I'm like, like, how did I do this? And that's when I started thinking I knew how to sew, but that was something that my parents just like, Hey, your aunt's sewed. She sewed my aunts very well.
00:10:57
Speaker
And she wanted to teach all of the girls in the family. So I just thought I was just doing what I was supposed to. So anyway, That wedding led to word of mouth. And I had another wedding like in the next two months.
00:11:11
Speaker
who Yeah. And that person said, well, can you make my flowers? And I was like, okay. No, but you know, i like a challenge. I love a challenge.
00:11:23
Speaker
And so I yeah, I'm going to figure this out. So went and talked to other professionals who made flowers and so learned how to do that. and it just kind of organically grew word of mouth because remember I told you, I had just graduated from college. So I was still looking for a permanent job.
00:11:40
Speaker
so Wow. Okay. This is like you... I mean, not to age us both, but you've been doing this for a long time. Yeah. No, no. Like I've been in the industry for over 20 years. So like it.
00:11:54
Speaker
I've been at it a long time. So although it was part-time at first, I organically moved full-time about 10 years ago, but I've been at it long time. Okay. So what was like your corporate job for those 10 years?
00:12:07
Speaker
I was an accountant. And so I started off as like a financial analyst. So I've worked in all facets of business, financial accounting, ah but I ended my career managing a team of auditors.
00:12:21
Speaker
So- Interesting. Okay. Yeah. I see that in you. I mean, um everyone doesn't know, but again, we serve on the WIPA board and tell us about, I'm VP marketing, but tell us about your role in WIPA. And if you don't know WIPA, it's Wedding Industry Professional Association.
00:12:38
Speaker
Yes. So I am a treasurer for WIPA. So, but first, when I first started, I was over the membership and then i moved into our DEI role.
00:12:49
Speaker
but And although I like those roles, it was something about when the treasurer role came open, I could do budgeting. Like I was in my wheelhouse.
00:13:01
Speaker
I got to mix both wedding planning and that budgeting process. that treasurer money aspect. So I'm in my zone now. I love being on the treasurer.
00:13:13
Speaker
it's Yeah, you do. You do the money. I do the content. Yeah, I love it. It's a perfect match, right? I know a lot of the whip aboard people were giving you shout outs, like you made their lives a lot easier to like kind of forecast for the next events, like what things are going to cost. And yes, That's kind of over my head. i don't mean when it's like in one ear or out the other because I don't like anything finances. But ah tell us how you like were accountant for 10 years. And then what was like your big jump to kind of that leap of faith to take it into your own business and like kind of quit the corporate route?
Financial Wisdom for Wedding Professionals
00:13:45
Speaker
So I got married and moved from St. Louis to California. And so I always said that would be the best opportunity to start my business full time because California is cutting edge, you know, for wedding planning.
00:14:02
Speaker
And so, but I didn't. I was like, no, I actually did like corporate. And then we were acquired. So I would probably have been that person that was still in corporate because I'm kind of like a creature but by nature, you know? Yeah. oh Long story short, our company was acquired. They wanted everybody to go into the office.
00:14:24
Speaker
And the closest office was like six hours away. And I'm like, that's a big commute. I can't commute six hours. um yeah You would have to pay for hotels. Right. Right.
00:14:35
Speaker
And so I was newly married, had newly moved to a new city. And so to add that one more pressure, I was like, no. So they offer me a plan and my husband say, you know what? You've been talking about doing your business full a time.
00:14:50
Speaker
We'll figure out, make it work. And I'm telling you, I have not looked back. It's been amazing. That's crazy. I guess well you had already been planning weddings, but like did you have like a set type of weddings ah um in mind that you wanted to plan, like the type of client?
00:15:07
Speaker
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00:15:21
Speaker
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00:16:03
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00:16:38
Speaker
So i like it was like starting all over again. you know i had to build new contacts. And so it evolved into where I am now. Yeah. Oh, love that. Okay. Tell everyone um what your type of wedding, your favorite type of wedding is right now. And everyone like go check out her feed. I'll link it in the bio. But your work is amazing. so like describe your, your client, your perfect wedding.
00:17:02
Speaker
So my perfect wedding is, it's so ironic. I like to start with the clients at the very beginning. So I've had a couple of clients who were not even engaged yet and hired me before they were engaged.
00:17:15
Speaker
So the last yeah right it was so cool. They knew that it was coming. And so I got to grow with them because I love to grow with my clients, you know. wow Being able to be from A to Z, it's still their vision, but helping to vision with them is so exciting. I love it.
00:17:35
Speaker
It makes so much sense because like people trust you, just like that first wedding and the second wedding. and it's like They're not even engaged, but you're like... Oh, I want you like make sure you're free on my day. day that's didnt exist yet yeah I love it, you know, because it's about building trust and I love relationships.
00:17:52
Speaker
So that theyre jazzes me, as they say. Oh, I love that. OK, this is perfect ah segue into Hot Topic. But what is your Hot Topic, Erica? And why is it so near and dear to your heart?
00:18:05
Speaker
Well, my hot topic is budgeting for couples and even wedding professionals. And why it's so important is money is a big part of who we are.
00:18:16
Speaker
And a lot of times we don't even focus on the dollars. And so and I get it because it's scary. It's even scary for me. But when you don't focus on them, you don't always make the best choices or you don't know what choices you can make because you don't understand what you have, you know?
00:18:37
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I was like kind of a little like not spoiled in my upbringing. Like my parents were like almost on the verge of like bankruptcy and it was like they never could talk about money.
00:18:50
Speaker
But then later on, like we find find out my grandma did have like some stock money. So she gave me a lot of money. So in my head, it was like, what is a budget? And i don't want a budget because that means it's going to control me. And then um later on, I found out that's not the way to live.
00:19:06
Speaker
Yeah. It could ah be the devil. We don't know your numbers. um And a lot of bad things could happen after that. But yeah, Tal, I guess there's more wedding pros listening in right now than couples, but kind of...
00:19:22
Speaker
tell them the like the big mindset shift of like why numbers are so important, knowing your numbers. Knowing your numbers is important because we spend a lot of money trying to ah attract clients.
00:19:34
Speaker
We even spend a lot of hours working on products, but do we really know what I call our ROI, return on investment? So Are you really profitable? And when you don't look at all the monies that you're spending, I'll give an example. So I have all of these URLs that I am going to use.
00:19:56
Speaker
So I'm paying for them. Every year. But I didn't even realize how much I was paying for him, Carissa, because I hadn't added that aspect to my budget. And so you could be spending money, not frivolously, but just spending money thinking that it's working for you. And it's really not.
00:20:16
Speaker
So. Yeah, sometimes I need see like GoDaddy, it'll be like 99 cents per first year, but then they get you on like the next year, like $24.99 or $34.99 that you don't know you're spending and then you don't even use this, you know, domain and it's like...
00:20:32
Speaker
you know, finally you realize what is all this? Yes, absolutely. And you're like, you think you're making a great business decision, but it's really not helping you at this particular time.
00:20:44
Speaker
But if you knew your numbers, then you could know, oh, I shouldn't even purchase that right now. So. Okay. Well, yeah, I love
Budgeting for Marriages: Erica's Course
00:20:52
Speaker
that. So I guess this whole like hot topic could go around your new digital product. um But tell everyone like your ah digital product that you're selling that you're launching.
00:21:02
Speaker
I am so excited about it. Like I'm about to jump out of my seat, but it's, I love, when I talk about numbers, I don't know if I get really excited because being educated about your numbers makes you more powerful. And it's not about having a lot of money. It's about being impactful with the money that you have.
00:21:28
Speaker
And so my course is called, budgeting to get married and stay married. so Oh my God. Okay. So let's just get into it. Like, I would say 50% of marriages end in divorce, but I say it's even more these days. And I have a lot of friends getting divorced. um And I think it was a lot of like financial like problems.
00:21:52
Speaker
How do you prevent yourself from getting into this like financial trouble or like these arguments about money? So a lot of people don't realize that money is attached to emotions and And so what one of the things is my course, it spends just one chapter on talking about why we view money the way we do.
00:22:15
Speaker
And so, Carissa, even for my husband and I, we got married later in life and we had two totally ideas about how to spend money in budget. so Wow.
00:22:27
Speaker
I think you really he's very lucky to have you. Yeah. What was, um I would say, like, what was his money story and what was, like, your money story? Like, in a nutshell.
00:22:41
Speaker
Yeah, in a nutshell, his money story was, you can buy what you want to buy as long as your bills are paid and you have extra money, you just spend, you buy what you want to buy.
00:22:53
Speaker
And on my side, it was like, no, you save, save, save, and you don't buy yourself anything. And so we were two totally different opposite spectrums, literally. Wow, interesting. Yeah. I think that's good though, because it's a little bit of both, right? Yes.
00:23:07
Speaker
Yes. But you got to find a happy medium, like, because we can't spend everything, but it's it's okay to spend. And so- We had to work on finding the fine line for both of us. so Yeah. As a wedding planner, like how do you talk to your couples about budgeting and not it make make it make ah not it have them get into an argument?
00:23:33
Speaker
like What are some of the questions you ask and like how do you ease them into these hard questions? yeah So I go right to the nosedive. I say, what's your budget? And it it it like shocks them.
00:23:45
Speaker
And a lot of times people are intimidated to say what their budget is because maybe they feel like it's not enough budget or maybe it's too much of a budget.
00:23:56
Speaker
And so I tell them, I and i say, I'm getting in your business, but I'm not getting in your business. And I kind of let them know I'm an accountant by trade. So it makes them a little bit more comfortable that I'm not just trying to say, well, what's your budget? So we can see how much you can spend.
00:24:12
Speaker
yeah and And then I tell them everybody has a budget. Like even i went to Omodeo Drive and there was this artifact store and there was a statute in the window that cost a million dollars.
00:24:28
Speaker
I was like, I'm not going in that store. yeah But I use that analogy. So even if I was a millionaire and I only had a million dollars, I still couldn't afford that statutes.
00:24:41
Speaker
So don't get intimidated about what your budget is. We just need to know what it is so that we know how to spend it appropriately. So I go right into the nose. I like that.
00:24:53
Speaker
i I think I'm in your business, but I'm not in your business. But I'm not in your business, right? I mean, I feel like the but some of the richest people are like the cheapest people. So it's like the rich you're in the poor, get poor.
00:25:08
Speaker
And they they're rich for a reason because they know what they have and when to spend it. So yeah. Okay. So what are some tips and tricks for like, either wedding pros or couples to like stick with their budget and like, how do they, I don't know, like I'm in two minds at Snapbub, like wedding pros, like how do they put the piece of pie, like of, um, you know, marketing or gift giving or paying themselves? I know it's a kind of long winded question, but yeah.
00:25:38
Speaker
So it's really two separate concepts. So for a wedding pro, um, what are your major expenses and, or what are your major components? So like I have this little model I keep in an Excel spreadsheet.
00:25:51
Speaker
So about 40% I'm going to spend on operate. Well, no, so I think mine is 60% of operating expenses. So that's like marketing, this, this, and this. And then 30% of that I want to do for savings,
00:26:08
Speaker
And, and then 10, no, I'm, I'm getting to mix of 30% I put away for taxes and then 10% goes into a savings. And so in that operating is what you pay yourself is what you pay your vendors. So it's all of that. So I build that model.
00:26:23
Speaker
So every time I have money come in, I have these separate accounts. I'm going to put 60% in my operating account. yeah Yeah. 30% in my, uh, my tax account and 10% of my savings.
00:26:37
Speaker
So I don't touch their savings because it's what it's for. I don't touch their tax because that's to pay the taxes when tax bill comes. yeah And in the 6%, I put it in a different component. So that's for wedding pros.
00:26:49
Speaker
And I recommend, now mine is 60, 30, 10. but yours could be different, you know, based upon um your business model. And then for couples, they really should look at ah how much they want to spend on their wedding based upon different categories. So it's about 10 categories within that.
00:27:10
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, that makes it a lot more simple, like top level, but let's break it down a little bit more, like in that 60% for wedding pros, operating costs and paying yourself. Can you break it down a little bit further?
00:27:22
Speaker
Yeah. so i and So in that operating, you have marketing, which is a big chunk of that 60%. You have employee expenses. So that would be yourself as well as if you have any people who work on your team.
00:27:38
Speaker
And then you have um office expenses, which may include your rent, or if you have a home-based office, your cell phone, your phone, your internet, and all of that. So breaking it down to even more neglect granular level, even if your particular um job requires uniforms, that should be a part of your budget.
00:28:02
Speaker
Wow. Okay. I'm learning so much. Do you use like ah QuickBooks or YNAB or Rocket Money? What do you use So I'll use QuickBooks. And part of that is because I came from an accounting background. So I've seen the evolution of QuickBooks from when it was desktop to now it's online. And I think it's just a really user-friendly platform.
00:28:25
Speaker
um to use. I love QuickBooks. We use it for WIPA. I use it for some um other clients. that I still kind of do a little bit of accounting, so I use it for other clients. So I love QuickBooks and I use it for myself.
00:28:39
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Shout out to QuickBooks. What do you um recommend like couples to use like because it's kind of hard because I'm thinking like they haven't even joined their money, joined their money together yet.
Pre-Marital Financial Planning
00:28:53
Speaker
um And I'm sure they're like putting one makes more than other, of course, doesn't matter who it is.
00:28:59
Speaker
um How, and then some parents pay more and some don't. So how are you like helping them navigate through all of these things? I promise you, you've looked at my course book. I promise you, you have.
00:29:15
Speaker
I'm excited to.
00:29:18
Speaker
Because there's a piece in there where I ask couples, how are you going to save for your budget? So part of it is historical savings. People have been saving for weddings, like you said, even parents contributing. So what's your historical?
00:29:33
Speaker
How much can you save every month up until a certain time of your wedding? Even like, do you have a side, what I call a side hustle that Some people do other things ah that make money or you're going to contribute that to your wedding budget.
00:29:50
Speaker
And so then you add all of that up to see what your true budget is. But what that also does, Carissa, is get you to start working together and looking at money way before you say I do. So you're building that framework before you get down to I.
00:30:09
Speaker
Yeah, I think you are getting in their business. Yeah, yeah I know. Now that you say it, I really on to it. I think you're getting in their business more than they they know that they're in their business. Right, right.
00:30:21
Speaker
But one thing about it, I hear stuff and it goes one out of ear. I don't judge. Like I tell people, it's not about judging. It's about educating. Yeah. What is one piece of like education advice do you give um engaged couples about like even after the wedding, like planning for their future, like merging their accounts together? Mm-hmm.
00:30:43
Speaker
I tell them it's hard. Like I'm not going to sugarcoat It is hard, especially like my husband and i we have been single for so so many years, but be patient with one another.
00:30:56
Speaker
And just because he spends money a certain way or you spend money another way doesn't make it right or wrong. It just makes it different. And so how can you continue to have those discussions until you find a happy medium?
00:31:12
Speaker
Interesting. So when you like got married to your your husband and started talking about financial stuff and he's like maybe like a little bit of more of a spender and then maybe like you would like to save, um how do you come to like a happy medium? I know there's lots of conversations, but like, do you have any pro tips on that?
00:31:32
Speaker
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00:31:45
Speaker
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00:31:55
Speaker
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00:32:13
Speaker
You know what? So it becomes an open mind, but also writing things down. You got to make it make sense, you know, and so and C-E-N-T-S. You got to make it make sense.
00:32:28
Speaker
As well as making. Oh, that's funny. Yeah. Right. And so like when you write everything down, does it really make sense how you spend money? Does it really make sense how the other person spends money and just agree that you're going to do what's best for the both of you? So it's really giving of yourself, Carissa, like.
00:32:49
Speaker
ah marriage is a compromise sometimes. So yeah, I didn't want to spend more, but guess what? I enjoy spending a little more now. You know, husband's like, yeah I wasn't this strict on saving, but guess what? It's allowed us to do stuff five years down the road that we couldn't have done. Interesting. Yeah.
00:33:10
Speaker
Yeah. You're always looking pretty fly. Your makeup and hair done with your nice suits and stuff. But it's in the budget. Yeah. You ought to work up to that. yeah and But it's hard work, Carissa. It really is. And we continue to evolve. Like when you have financial natural changes that happen,
00:33:30
Speaker
you have to readjust your budget. Like it this is a constant thing. This is not ah one and done thing. You're going to continuously change as you both evolve.
00:33:41
Speaker
So. Yeah, whenever I have these conversations, I always think of like just stories and like my career or my life. But um it was my wedding and I wanted to like print out like this cute little photo of us and put it on like every single charger. ah And but like the nice like hard stock, thick paper. And then even the printer guy, he was like...
00:34:02
Speaker
He was telling me, don't do it. He's like, Chris, this is going to cost you like the amount of like an iPad. yeah And um I did end up doing it.
00:34:13
Speaker
But it's just interesting, like the mindsets of different things that we have. Like, oh, you could buy like tiny little like mints for your couples. But that times like $175. Like going to be like And that five like it yeah it adds up very quickly. And I tell my clients, so I do a, what's your five must-haves and five nice-to-haves? Because do it.
00:34:39
Speaker
And I'm sure you can attest to it. During your wedding planning process, you're going to have to make some decisions over others. So like when I got married, I had to have hardwood floors.
00:34:50
Speaker
So it came down to the point was I chose a venue that had hardwood floors And I just used the chairs that the venue had versus safari. So, but if you make those decisions before you start the planning process, it's not as emotional when you have to make the decisions down the road. Interesting. Yeah.
00:35:11
Speaker
You got your hardware floor. Yeah, I got my hardware floor. No safari chairs. But guess what? My guests still enjoyed themselves and it wasn't a deal breaker. Yeah. And it wasn't a pocket breaker either.
00:35:23
Speaker
Yeah, for sure yeah where you I know you a bookworm as a kid and um you're into like math and everything. But like, were there anyone or like anyone that inspired you to like get really good at your finances or books or podcasts weren't around, but like people?
00:35:42
Speaker
ah So it's ironic. It came from people who were in my circle. When I say in my circle, my third grade teacher was really about math. And I ended up having a relationship with her going forward because she worked at the same school my mother worked in. So she's,
00:36:00
Speaker
Still actually a part of my life. So she was very big oh know your numbers, know your numbers. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. So it's like people who were in my circle. Yeah.
00:36:12
Speaker
Like she was budgeting. 101 to the 10th power. Yeah. Yeah. I know. I just always remember that scene from like Breaking Bad where like his friend is like the chemist and he becomes like this multimillionaire and then his his wife is like budgeting like, oh, hey, did you get those like prosciutto?
00:36:31
Speaker
Like, why did you pay like $7 for this? Like, um it's so interesting, but that's how you kind of have to live your life. um That gives me chills. Like, just like speaking of someone that inspired you from like third grade and like...
00:36:45
Speaker
the impact that teachers have. Yes. they Teachers are very impactful. They just don't realize it. Yeah. Yeah. I follow Ramit, whatever, i forget his last name, but like, um I will teach you how to be rich. It's on Netflix, but are there any podcasts or books that you highly recommend the audience buys today?
00:37:07
Speaker
So there's a guy called The Profit. um oh when i take now he is like my fave every episode he's ever done and he's no nonsense but he knows his stuff and he helps you to glean away things that you really don't need and it's not adding value to strengthen your bottom line i love love love him and then um Think Rich, Grow Rich. Oh, is it? Oh, my gosh. Think to Grow Rich. Yeah. Yes.
00:37:42
Speaker
I've read it. and They say you should read books at different times in your life. Interesting. Yeah. And I've read that book about three times. Dang. I know. I've probably read it like in college. And then i just kind of like gleam over it, have it on my book stand all the time.
00:37:58
Speaker
Yeah. I've been following this girl, um Mamala. shes so She's a YouTuber-ish Korean girl, but she talks a lot about like simplifying your life. Like, oh, you don't have to like go the container store. You can like use like leftover jars and wash them and um look in your Amazon account and see like like if you really still have all these things that you bought. you know Wow. I need to look her up then. She's really, really beautiful. Just like the aesthetic of her YouTubes are really charming. know Okay. So I've been trying to just like ingrain my mind, like, um,
00:38:31
Speaker
Like, oh, like capsule wardrobe. So I'm like, maybe i should just like get some just like brown, like me to tones with like a pop of color purse that I always have not always happen to like buy new like sparkly clothes, you know? Yes.
00:38:44
Speaker
So all these little things, like I think everything is um People are getting more empowered by their numbers and like what they spend. And some people are not like just going to like cheap fashion all the time. I think everything's shifting right now where people are trying to like be more conservative with their finances, especially because of like houses being so expensive and they can't afford it.
00:39:07
Speaker
um But yeah, what do you think like the future is for weddings maybe in like this year, and next year, the year after of like budgets or like trends or anything that you like see um for upcoming weddings?
Trends in Wedding Spending
00:39:22
Speaker
I see that people are because they want their weddings to be an experience. for their couples before it was like, oh, got to have the best flowers. I have the have the best foods.
00:39:33
Speaker
But now people are really saying, I want my guests to have an experience. And so what I'm seeing is that they're spending more of their dollars on that experience part, whether it's like a food or drink bar or like adding something like a perfume bar versus like hardcore. I want all of these flowers I need.
00:39:58
Speaker
got to have this limousine. So I see a shift in experience dollars being spent. and Interesting. novel Yeah. I'm thinking of like the weddings that even have like their friends do like a hula dance or maybe their their friend doing like a song at last. And it is more about the experience and like, yeah, paint that thousand dollar for that that um that limo or that party bus so it is more of like kind of what you take away after and like what you feel and like the memories that you have um with the stories yeah because i actually have like a model saying okay
00:40:35
Speaker
My budget is $30,000, so 42% goes here. forty you know ah We break it down. And we always do a budget meeting to say, do you want to shift some of it around?
00:40:48
Speaker
And I'm getting a lot of couples shifting away from their beauty piece of it and moving it to more of that experience piece. This is such a cool conversation.
00:40:59
Speaker
um Sad to say we're coming to the last question already. my God, I can't believe it. I know, it's so crazy. But you've done so well in your business and I think it's a big part of like your your Southern charm, but also like this budgeting aspect, this accountant aspect, because money is such a hard topic for people to speak upon and you could do it like easily and help them navigate through
Improving Profitability in Wedding Businesses
00:41:22
Speaker
that.
00:41:22
Speaker
But I would say like speak to the hearts of wedding pros right now, maybe struggling to make their business um just, um I don't know, like profit from their business.
00:41:34
Speaker
What would you say to them advice maybe to do today to get them out of their head and like just make it happen for them? Yes. So I would say do it scared because it's scary to shift from one mode of thinking to another.
00:41:47
Speaker
But you got to know your numbers because if something's not working like so I was um spending marketing dollars in a platform that wasn't working for me.
00:41:58
Speaker
Carissa, it worked for everybody else, but it wasn't working for me. So being able to say, OK, this may be OK for someone else, but it's not OK for me. I'm not a cookie cutter model.
00:42:10
Speaker
So be OK with going against the grain, I would with say. Be OK with going against the grain. And what works for you might not work for someone else.
00:42:21
Speaker
And take a hard look at the dollars you're spending. Are they anything? adding value to you and your business. So it's it's called the value add.
00:42:33
Speaker
Is it a value add to me? And if it's not being okay to walk away from it, that's the hardest part. ah mar kondo a fine I mean, just like me, I'm a creature of habits. So to say, walk away from something that I've been doing for so long, yeah but if it's not working,
00:42:53
Speaker
It's not working and that's okay. It doesn't mean that you're not. your numbers don't lie. And that's what you're saying. Numbers don't lie. I love that. Okay. That is very well said. um Explain to everyone again about your digital product, how they could buy it. And then for couples, how to work with you.
00:43:10
Speaker
OK, so it's coming soon through the Thinknific platform. So catch me on my Instagram. More information will be coming about my course, Budgeting to Get Married and Stay Married. And if you want to work with me, I would love for you to send me. I have a website, ericas elegance dot com or send me a message via Instagram at ericas elegance.
00:43:32
Speaker
Yay, Erica. Thank you, friend. Thank you so much. You are amazing, Carissa. Thank you for everything that you're doing and pouring into me and us as an industry.
00:43:45
Speaker
We love you and we value you and you don't go unnoticed. Oh, I received that.
00:43:54
Speaker
Thanks for joining me this week on Get a Heck Yes with Carissa Wu. Make sure to follow, subscribe, leave a review, or tell a friend about the show. Take a screenshot and post to IG. Tag me. Also, don't forget to download my free guide on how to become a lead generating machine.
00:44:10
Speaker
See you next time, wedding pros.